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Firm Size and the Use of Intellectual Property Rights *
Author(s) -
JENSEN PAUL H.,
WEBSTER ELIZABETH
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
economic record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1475-4932
pISSN - 0013-0249
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2006.00292.x
Subject(s) - intellectual property , imitation , business , property rights , disadvantaged , industrial organization , economics , commerce , microeconomics , law , economic growth , psychology , social psychology , political science
Innovation markets are often characterised by market failure because inventions typically incur high fixed costs relative to marginal costs and their intellectual capital is non‐excludable. Intellectual property (IP) rights may attenuate this problem by providing legal recourse for firms to stop imitation by rivals. As IP rights are costly to acquire and enforce, it is often argued that SMEs are disadvantaged in their ability to utilise IP rights. This paper examines the intensity of IP usage by firm size and finds that SMEs actually have higher rates of patent, trade mark and design usage once industry effects are controlled for.